The Beatitudes of Peace Quotes

“Jesus calls us to … “hate” money, give it away to the poor, simplify our lives, practice universal love and compassion, and focus our attention, time, and energy on the God of love and peace. Of course,, this either/or teaching can be applied to all the consequences of the idolatry of money. Jesus could just as easily say: “You cannot serve both God and country. You cannot serve both God and war. You cannot serve both God and nuclear weapons. You cannot serve both the God of life and peace and the false gods of death and war. It’s one or the other.”
― John Dear, The Beatitudes of Peace: Meditations on the Beatitudes, Peacemaking & the Spiritual Life

“To utter this prayer (the Lord’s Prayer) is to renounce our national identity and recognize our true identity as a son or daughter of the God of peace, our beloved Father (and Mother), and a brother or sister of every human being on earth. With this prayer, we breathe in and out our dependence of God and God’s Kingdom, and place our entire focus on the God of peace and God’s kingdom.”
― John Dear, The Beatitudes of Peace: Meditations on the Beatitudes, Peacemaking & the Spiritual Life

“I do not think "purity" means perfection, nor is it an unreachable goal. When Jesus calls us to purity of heart, he's calling us to an inner journey toward an ever-widening heart of love and compassion for all others, all creation, and the Creator. Purity of heart or inner purity is a process, a way of life, not a static goal. He calls us to a soft heart that beats, not a cold heart of stone. When understood this way, this Beatitude becomes an exciting invitation to an inner journey of love, compassion, nonviolence, and peace.”
― John Dear, The Beatitudes of Peace: Meditations on the Beatitudes, Peacemaking & the Spiritual Life